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Cancer related cases are continuously increasing across the world. As soon as people hear the name of cancer, they start getting afraid of treatment. The pain of surgery, chemotherapy and the thought of long treatment make patients mentally weak. But now medical science has made the treatment easier to a great extent. Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, Delhi Doctors have successfully treated breast cancer with a new technique without surgery, which is called cryoablation.
With the help of cryoablation technique cancer It is destroyed by freezing it at very low temperatures. The special thing is that it neither requires anesthesia nor does it require hospitalization for a long time. This treatment is especially helpful for those patients who are not fit for surgery. Let us know about this technology in detail.
What was the matter?
A 77-year-old elderly woman arrived at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital with the problem of breast cancer. Apart from being old, he also had serious heart disease. In such a situation, giving him general anesthesia and performing surgery could prove fatal. The challenge before the doctors was how to treat cancer without taking risks. After investigation it was revealed that the size of the tumor was about 1.5 cm.
Considering the condition of the patient, the team of doctors decided to adopt modern cryoablation technique instead of traditional surgery. This is believed to be the first successful case of breast cancer treatment using this technique in North India, which has opened a new path of treatment for elderly and serious patients.
What is cryoablation and how does it work?
Dr. Shaili Sharma, Lead Breast Imaging Specialist, Apollo Hospital Explains that cryoablation is a modern and easy treatment technique, in which cancer cells are destroyed by extreme cold without major surgery. In this process, first of all the exact location of the tumor is determined with the help of ultrasound or CT scan.
After this, a thin hollow needle, called a probe, is inserted between the tumors. Very cold gas like liquid nitrogen is made to flow through this probe.
This technique works on a freeze-thaw-freeze cycle, in which the tumor is first frozen, then brought to normal temperature for a while and frozen again. This produces cold up to -170 degrees Celsius. Due to extreme cold, cancer cells break and get destroyed there. Later the body’s immune system itself cleans these dead cells.
Treatment in 30 minutes and discharge on the same day
Dr. Shaili Sharma told that the biggest feature of this technique is that the patient does not need to be admitted in the hospital. The entire procedure is done under local anesthesia. The patient remains conscious and does not feel much pain.
No stitches are required and the probe is inserted through only a small cut. The entire process is completed in about 30 minutes. The patient is discharged from the hospital within a few hours of the treatment, which reduces both physical and mental stress.
Boon for elderly patients
Cryoablation technology is proving to be a boon especially for those patients who cannot undergo surgery due to age or other serious diseases. Every year, a large number of elderly women are diagnosed with breast cancer in India, but many patients are not fit for surgery.
In such a situation, this technology has emerged as a safe and effective option. This success shows that world-class facilities are now available for cancer treatment in India and this technology can play an important role in saving many lives in future.